VP Joe Biden criticizes Rob Portman in Toledo stop

Monday

Oct 24, 2016 at 12:01 AMOct 24, 2016 at 8:59 PM

Vice President Joe Biden assailed Republican Sen. Rob Portman today, calling him the "architect" of the economic policies that led to the financial collapse of Wall Street in 2008 and the subsequent recession. In a campaign appearance in Toledo where he joined Senate Democratic candidate Ted Strickland, Biden said as governor of Ohio from 2007 through the end of 2010, Strickland "got this state through a God-awful recession."

Jack Torry, The Columbus Dispatch

TOLEDO— Vice President Joe Biden assailed Republican Sen. Rob Portman Monday, calling him the “architect” of the economic policies that led to the financial collapse of Wall Street in 2008 and the subsequent recession.

In a campaign appearance in Toledo where he joined Senate Democratic candidate Ted Strickland, Biden said as governor of Ohio from 2007 through the end of 2010, Strickland “got this state through a God-awful recession.”

Speaking at an outdoor rally held on a wind-swept and chilly patio at the Toledo Public Library, said that “the irony of ironies” is as White House budget director and U.S. trade representative under former President George W. Bush, Portman was the “architect” of many of Bush’s economic policies.

“I personally like Ted’s opponent, but my Lord, he was the architect of the policy,” Biden told the crowd of a few hundred.

Biden’s stop in Toledo was part of a three-city blitz by the vice president as Democrats try to boost voter turnout in this crucial state. Polls show Clinton and Trump are engaged in a tight contest in a state Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump absolutely must win to have chance of assembling the 270 electoral votes he needs to win the presidency.

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But Biden devoted a good chunk of his speech to delivering sharp criticism of Portman, who is leading Strickland in the latest polls. Pointing out the Detroit “automobile industry was flat on its back” when President Barack Obama took office in 2009, Biden said Strickland and Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio pushed hard for a federal financial rescue of General Motors and Chrysler.

By contrast, Biden said Portman called the 2009 rescue a “lousy deal to be precise,” implying that Portman opposed the $79.6 billion rescue package.

Portman, who was not in office at the time the Obama administration launched the bailout, said during a 2010 U.S. Senate debate against Democrat Lee Fisher, he “would have liked to have seen more conditions” because billions of dollars in “taxpayer money went to a private entity that the government essentially took over and then they closed four plants here in Ohio.”

“So, if I had been in office at the time I would have supported it, but I would have been sure that Ohio didn’t fall behind,” Portman said during the debate.

Portman's campaign responded to Biden by attacking Strickland.

"As Ted Strickland continues his embarrassing retirement tour after national Democrats abandoned his campaign, 14 out of 15 Ohio newspapers, unions, and voters across the state are rallying behind Rob because of his record of getting results for Ohio workers and their families," said Portman campaign spokeswoman Michawn Rich. "As Ted Strickland and his allies already know, while he wasn’t in the Senate at the time, Rob has consistently said he would have voted for the auto rescue but would have pushed for improvements to protect Delphi salaried retirees and protect the auto plants and dealerships that shut down in Ohio during Governor Strickland’s tenure. Ted's desperate and false attacks are certainly a sad way to end his 40-year political career."

Earlier in the day after speaking before a medical summit hosted by the Cleveland Clinic, Biden surprised a group of Democratic volunteers at a nearby Clinton campaign office. According to a pool report filed by a reporter, the stunned volunteers burst into applause.

Biden spoke for about 15 minutes, making clear his disdain for Trump, saying “we all know the nightmare of a Trump presidency," Biden said, adding that “Hillary is going to win this election."

After speaking, Biden stayed to chat and have photos taken, before joking, “I’m going to stop talking. You guys should be on the phones.”

jtorry@dispatch.com

@jacktorry1

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